Letters to the editor for the week of October 11th, 2012

Time to take action

Thank-you for the action initiated during the October 2, 2012 council meeting regarding our cell tower concerns.

The visual effects of the towers are not our concern. Our main concern remains the health effects of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell towers and the 30 per cent increase asked for in this application by Globalive Wireless Management Corp. Since many citizens are unaware of these cell tower health risks, here is one of many sites to read: http://emwatch.com/Cellmasts.htm.

This article includes information such as a reference to a study done in Naila, Germany, where they found that those living within 400 metres of a cell tower had a newly diagnosed cancer rate three times higher than those living further away. Other studies show that children are at a much higher risk than adults of experiencing health problems, related to exposure to radio frequency radiation. Our children are at greater risk due to their thinner and smaller skulls. This should concern us all.

We have heard from others that it has been very difficult to leave a comment regarding this application using the directions given in the paper concerning this application. (The deadline to make comments to The Ministry of Natural Resources Operations is Nov. 8 2012.)

Since we don't know what harm is being done currently, before the addition of yet another tower, we again ask for a third independent party to test the electromagnetic radiation and the MV/M (mill volts per metre) at homes in Alpine, Nicholas North and beyond.

If anyone wants to see the locations and output of the many cell tower locations in Whistler, Google "Canadian Cellular Towers Map" and type in Whistler.

It's time to wake up and smell the radiation! Oops sorry about that, we know you can't smell, see, taste, feel or hear it! But now that we have your attention, we need your help to voice our community's concerns about the proposed installation of two new cell phone towers in Whistler, one located in Alpine Meadows and the other cell tower location is to be announced.

Deadline for the Alpine Meadows application is Nov. 8, 2012. We share Ed and Marta Hollander's concern about health and safety around cell phone towers as voiced in their first letter in Pique two weeks ago. It has prompted us to encourage the community to become more educated on this issue.

We have done our own due diligence by researching the risks associated by living near cell phone towers and we don't like what we have discovered. Briefly, here is what we have learned: